


of flight delays and tinder matches

by fathomless



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff without Plot, Meet-Cute, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 17:51:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16769974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fathomless/pseuds/fathomless
Summary: Inspired by the tweet, "My flight was delayed 3 hours so I was doing what any human does when they're bored. Minding my own business swiping through tinder & the guy behind me goes 'ouch hard no for that one?' And I turn around ONLY TO SEE THE MAN I JUST SWIPED NO ON RIGHT BEHIND ME HAHAHA"





	of flight delays and tinder matches

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so I wrote this from about 1:30 to 3 in the morning because I couldn't get it out of my head and wanted to avoid thinking about the mountain of schoolwork I have to do. Enjoy!

The commotion of the airport sounded around her.

A monotonous voice announcing delays and cancellations over the intercom, the hectic scrambling of people coming and leaving, luggage in tow. The shrieking cry of a baby from somewhere across the room, parent desperately trying to soothe it. The holidays were near, and Clarke?

She just wanted to hurry home. 

Not that she had anything important to do, not really, aside from getting back to work. Then, of course, she figured it would probably be best if she started shopping for Christmas presents soon, too. She had promised herself she wouldn’t be so much of a Scrooge this year, and intended to keep it, no matter how grumpy the holidays tried to make her. If it were up to her, they’d never succeed in doing so. 

Considering the fact that her flight had already been delayed for three hours and the vortex of snow whirling outside didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon, she settled back into her seat as comfortably as she could, unlocking her phone to view any notifications she might have missed. Raven had texted her a handful of times, mostly updates about what had been going on between her and some guy she’d been seeing recently. She scrolled down, pausing to see that Wells had texted her, too, telling her how much he had missed her already with a whole slew of emojis following his words, as if to make his point more clear. 

She smiled, texting back a quick,  _ I miss you too, _ with a handful of different colored heart emojis, followed by,  _ You get to be the one to come visit me next.  _ Figuring he likely wouldn’t be replying soon considering it usually took him hours to simply read a text, let alone reply to it, she closed the app, bored enough to swipe through various others.

She stifled a laugh at the site of the Tinder app, rolling her eyes upon remembering the night Raven had forced her to download it, pulling it up in the app store herself in hopes that Clarke would be less likely to decline. 

_ You need to get back out there, Clarke, it’s been months. And before you say it, no, flirting with one person for five minutes at a bar on a Saturday night doesn’t count as moving on. _

And, well, she could be a bit of a pushover at times. 

Sighing, she opened the app, immediately swiping left on the first person to pop up. It wasn’t that she was picky, no, it was that she rarely ever swiped right to match with people regardless. She found looking through profiles with pictures of ridiculously large trucks (which she assumed meant they were overcompensating for something), and animals much more entertaining than matching with someone only to have a short conversation void of any actual substance. 

_ Carson. 23. If I don’t respond it’s because I’m grinding MCAT problems.  _ Left swipe.  _ Kyle. 25. Looking for hookups only.  _ Left swipe. _ Brandin. 24. If you’re a liberal don’t bother wasting your time.  _ If only multiple left swipes on one person had been allowed, she likely would have used them.

She stopped upon reading the next profile, thumb hovering slightly above her phone. 

_ Bellamy. 29. History enthusiast/professor. My friends think I need a life and apparently this is the way to get it? I’m not really sure. _

The first picture depicted was one of him smiling, seemingly caught off guard by whoever had taken it. He had dark eyes, and an even darker mess of curls adorning his head, glasses askew on his face. The second and third pictures seemed to be in a museum of sorts, winter scarf wrapped around his neck while he looked at the exhibits as if in deep thought, trying to analyze them.

In short, he was… cute. Intriguing, even, seemingly the type of person she’d like to know. After all, he probably didn’t like the app any more than she did. Briefly, her thumb sat on the screen, and she found herself considering the option of potentially matching with him as she looked at his smile, one she imagined was likely infectious. 

She never swiped right, though, and he wasn’t any different in that sense, as she ultimately decided against it. In response, she ignored the pang of regret she felt upon watching his profile disappear, knowing she wouldn’t ever see him again. 

Oh, well. It likely would’ve been another case of awkward small talk for an hour or two until one of them quit responding, resulting in them never interacting again, anyway. She sighed, tilting her head to look at the next profile. Perhaps it had been for the better.

“Ouch,” a voice sounded from behind her. “I guess it was a hard no on that one, huh?” She huffed, turning to face the owner of the voice only to find that it was _ him. _

Her heart pounded in her chest, either out of humiliation or nervousness due to being face to face with the person she had almost briefly had a semi-crush on, she wasn’t sure.

“Do you always pay such close attention to what strangers are doing on their phones?” She questioned. “Besides, I-  _ you _ weren’t really the reason I turned you down, anyway.”

He smiled, the same striking one she’d seen in his picture, and she fought against the butterflies churning in her stomach. She had been right about his smile, almost enough to make her smile in response simply at the sight of it. “Oh, really?” He motioned to the seat beside her silently, asking if he could sit, and following a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. He set his luggage aside, and she found herself genuinely welcoming his presence beside her, unable to blame herself. “Would you mind sharing your real reason?”

“I hate Tinder,” she started. “And before you say anything about me having the app, my friend practically forced me to download it. I never swipe right on anybody, I just… I think it’s stupid, you know?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I get that. I wouldn’t have it if my friends hadn’t forced me to download it, either. Apparently my love life was getting, and I quote, ‘too depressing,’ even for me.” She laughed, knowing all too well what it felt like to be constantly taunted by others for the same reason. He paused, and she wondered briefly if he had finished talking. “But for the record, I did swipe right on you.” 

“For the record,” she repeated, cheeks beginning to ache from smiling, “I  _ almost _ swiped right on you.”

He laughed, a sound she longed to hear again. 

“Like that makes it any better?” She rolled her eyes playfully, able to tell he was joking by his tone of voice. 

“Hey, coming from me, that’s high praise, okay? Just be thankful you weren’t the guy who wrote, ‘if you’re a liberal don’t bother wasting your time,’ in his bio.” His eyes widened slightly in response as he reached up to reposition his glasses.

“Yikes. I probably would have swiped left on myself, if that were the case.” It was quiet between them, noise from around them filtering in, until, “I’m Bellamy, by the way, in case you don’t remember.” He reached out to shake her hand, and she would have been lying had she said she couldn’t feel sparks upon taking it in hers.

“I remember,” she assured him. “I’m Clarke.” 

Soft, then, hardly audible, “I remember.” Realizing she’d probably already held on too long, she let go of his hand, immediately wishing she hadn’t. “Where are you headed?”

_ Should she really tell that to a stranger?  _

“Richmond,” she answered, watching him nearly light up in response.

Warily, “What?”

“That’s where I’m going, too,” he reasoned, almost nonchalant. “You from there?”

She hesitated slightly. “Yes…”

He was quiet, seeming to be thinking over whatever it was he had been considering before shaking his head, turning to face her, smile unsure. “Well, in that case, what would you say to dinner one night?” Then, as if he was unsure whether she’d understood, “With me? Or, you know, you could try swiping left in person.”

Despite her earlier hesitance, she answered easily this time. 

“You know, I actually think I’ve learned from my mistake earlier,” she told him, watching as he visibly relaxed in response, smile blinding. “I’d really like that.” 

“Me too.” He took her hand in his again, only this time it wasn’t for an introduction, but rather simply to hold it. 

As they sat in the middle of the airport for the next hour, chairs uncomfortable and bright lights nearly blinding as they talked about anything and everything in between, hands still intertwined, she couldn’t help but think that maybe Tinder hadn’t been such a bad thing after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Yes the quotes from each tinder bio aside from Bellamy's were exact quotes from actual bios I've seen, in case you were wondering)


End file.
